Mother's Day baby! Penelope Lynn is here! :) LOTS of PiP

kaydogger · May 2011

She's here! After spending the entire Saturday with my husband, we went to the park, had a picnic and then went to his parents house for dinner. Around midnight we got home and I was watching 'Friends' on the couch and got up to get a drink of water and all the sudden I got a sudden pain in my lower stomach and fluid just starting coming out! Up until this point I have never felt a contraction and literally one minute after my water broke they came fast!

I'm not sure if anyone remembers but I was the one who went for my appointment on last Weds. & the doctor stripped my membranes w/o asking. I was already at 3cm at that point but hadn't had any Braxton Hicks yet.

SO! We grabbed our stuff (hadn't packed anything!) went to the hospital and they checked me out and I was 4-5cm. We made it to our delivery room and I was begging for the epidural. The anesthesiologist came right in and got me going. I had a bit of a scare because I had the labor shakes so bad I couldn't sit still. I didn't feel the needle go in but got a huge zinger down my leg. It was like smacking my funny bone against the wall but all in my leg and it made me jump. Luckily everything was OK (Freaked me out so much! I was reading all the horror stories of people being paralyzed from the epidural).

After that, oh my gosh, it was a million times better. I could still feel the contractions but didn't feel the horrible cramps they gave. In my book, anyone who does natural labor deserves an award!

We had a little bit of another scare when the baby's heart rate slowed. The doctor's said she was getting sleepy. I got on oxygen, laid on my side and they asked me to eat a Popsicle. She perked up a bit and I kept on going.

It's around 6 am at this point and I was 10 cm. They told me we weren't going to push and wanted the baby to drop on her own so I wouldn't be pushing for so long. My epidural was starting to wear off and I asked them to give me more! They kept telling me is was just the pressure of the baby but it was the crampy contraction feelings so they gave me some more and again, things felt so much better.

9 am rolled around and the doctor checked me and saw a bit of meconium so she wanted me to start pushing. This is my biggest piece of advice. Push JUST like you're going to the bathroom. Seriously. I know there's the fear of pooping but at that point you're leaking everywhere and the doctor and nurses could care less. 20 minutes later, she was out! Because this was my first baby, the doctor was amazed she came so quickly out. I had a little tear but nothing horrible. The hardest part was when her head was almost out and they told me to stop pushing! I felt like I had to so bad but somehow I didn't and they got everything set up. She perfect!

I'm struggling a bit with recovery but all things considered I'm SO grateful how great everything went! You guys can do it! Hang in there.

7 pounds 1 oz!